Memoir | A Secret Identity Revealed

Allan Gerson, a brilliant international lawyer who died in 2019, spent much of his career representing victims of terrorist attacks and human rights abuses, from the Lockerbie bombing to the 9/11 attacks. Gerson was best known for the creative legal theories he pioneered that allowed the families of such victims to sue foreign governments, seeking damages for their complicity in terrorism. He also served as senior counsel to two U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations and as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration. His background was as colorful and unusual as his career, which also included writing...